Spicer mocked over typo praising Tillerson for having ‘severed’ the country

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday mistakenly praised outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a tweet for having “severed our nation well.”

Spicer tweeted a message hailing Tillerson’s work as the top diplomat, but accidentally wrote “severed” instead of “served.”

Secretary Tillerson is a true patriot that has severed our nation well. Thank you for serving. Mike Pompeo will be an outstanding Secretary of State – the Senate should act swiftly to confirm him https://t.co/J8Eo0harb9

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) March 13, 2018

He later corrected the typo in a second tweet, but not before the initial message made the rounds on social media. 

“Served the nation well” https://t.co/FcereP9Zj5

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) March 13, 2018

{mosads}

Journalists and other Twitter users quickly picked up on the error, with some mocking it as a “Freudian slip.” 

Sever is not the wrong word here. https://t.co/1FNei5E906

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 13, 2018

“severed our nation well” https://t.co/VnJ6KGi3JN

— West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) March 13, 2018

Freudian slip via tweet. https://t.co/JqYpmqFsGn

— Greg Olear (@gregolear) March 13, 2018

To sever means “to become separated from each other; become divided into parts.” #Rexit https://t.co/R50H8PEdKI https://t.co/VBPunlNfAr

— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) March 13, 2018

Dear God man, try to be less stupid. https://t.co/UEMCnzdkpj

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) March 13, 2018

“Severed our nation” LOL DUDE YOU WERE THE WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATION’S DIRECTOR HOW ARE YOU SO BAD AT THIS!? https://t.co/niziIi1jkP

— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) March 13, 2018

No one has SEVERED the nation as well as Rex. Period. https://t.co/Z9aeJaAbSw

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) March 13, 2018

There is no greater example of the kind of people Trump hires than you, a professional comms person, making perhaps the worst typo possible in this tweet. Well done. https://t.co/4vuWT4nY63

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer) March 13, 2018

“WHO has severed.” https://t.co/Ieed6LUsJ3

— Joshua Malina (@JoshMalina) March 13, 2018

tfw the typo makes the statement all the more accurate https://t.co/JUACYFvWOy

— Russ Bengtson (@russbengtson) March 13, 2018

Freudian slip? https://t.co/dYpzaTgxSj

— Bill Weir (@BillWeirCNN) March 13, 2018

President Trump fired Tillerson earlier Tuesday, announcing the move in a tweet. Trump will nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Tillerson.

Tillerson said later Tuesday that he would be leaving the department at the end of the month. He thanked State Department staffers in his remarks but did not thank Trump.